Centrifugal casting- apparatus



T. A. DICKS.

CENTHIFUGAL CASTING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT- 9. I9IB.

Patented Sept. 2, 1919.

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Patented Sept. 2, 1919.

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T. A. DICKS.-

CENTRIFUGALICASTING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT- 9. I916.

Patented Sept. 2, 1919.

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THOMAS A. DICKS, OF WILKINSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

CENTRIFUGAL CASTING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 2, 1919.

Application filed October 9, 1918; Serial No. 257,516.

scription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, formingpart of this I specification, in which Figure 1 1s a view partly inside-elevation and partly in vertical section, the plane of thesectional portion of the figure being on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2;

Fig; 2 is a view partly in front elevation and partly in verticalsection;

. Fig. 3 is a section on the line IIIIII of 13g. 2; and FFig. 4 is asection on the line IV -IV of y invention has relation to centrifugalcasting apparatus, and is more particularly designed asan improvementupon the apparatus as shown and described in my Patout No. 1,072,436,dated September 9, 1913.

The ob ect of the present invention is to provide means of novel,practical and efficient characteiifm facilitating the removal vof--theproduced castings from the centrifugal mold, whereby th1s operation maybe more conveniently and rapidly performed.

A further object is to provide eflicient means for preventing undueheating of the mold parts. v

The apparatus herein described maybe used not only for the purpose ofcarrying out the method of casting large ingots, as described in my saidpatent, but may also be used for producing cast rings of various otherforms and forvarious other purposes.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, the" numeral 2 designates acircular mold body mounted upon rollers 2 and secured to a rotary shaft3,'which is journaled in suit.- able 4 and which may be driven from anysuitable source of power, such as the motor 5. The rotating mold body .2is provided with a seat in which is detachably secured a mold ring 6,and which is secured thereto by bolts 6. 7 designates a face plate whichis secured to the open side of the'moldbody 2 and mold ring 6, formingthe outer wall of the mold cavity, and which 56 is also partiallysupported by the rollers 2'.

may be This plate 7, in accordance with my. present invention, iscarried by supporting members'upon or with which it is movable towardand away from the mold cavity to permit of the removal of the formed.castlng, without entirely detaching it from the mold body. For thispurpose I have shown-the said plate as having three rea'rwardlyprojecting rods or bolts 8 secured thereto and extending rearwardlythrough the. mold body 2, their rear end portions being' threaded asindicated at 9. Mounted upon the threaded portion of each of these boltsis a toothed pinion 10 which also acts as a' nut. Each of the threepinions 10 has its teeth engaged by a pinion 11 mounted on a pusher rod12 hereinafter described. The

three pinions 11 have their teeth engaged by the teeth' of a gear wheel13 which is mounted for rotation on the hub portion of the mold body 2.The gear wheel 13 is provided with clutch members 14 adapted.

for engagement with corresponding clutch members 15 on a gear 16 whichis rotatably mounted on the bearing member 17,- and which is arranged tobe driven by a pinion 18 on a shaft 19 journaled in the pillow blocks ofone of the bearings 4 and provided with driving means 20. Any suitablemeans rovided for driving this shaft 19. I have sliown the gear wheel 20adapted to be engaged by any suitable driving gearing, such as thepinion of an electric motor. The

gear member 16 is longitudinally movable on the bearin member 17 anidmay be moved into an out of clutched engag; ment with the gear wheel 13by any means-such as the rack and pinion ated by the hand .wheel 21;

The pusher rods 12 before referrd to extend through the web portion ofto mold body and through the mold ring 6 0 the bottom face of the moldsurface of said ring. The gears 11 mounted on the threaded portions ofthese pusher rods' also act as nuts,

ing held in place by housing plates 22 secured to the mold body 2, asbest shown inpatent, and is thrown outwardl by eentrifugal force to forma dense uni orm annular casting.- which may be of any desired crossthese gears, together with the pinions 10, be

section. When the casting is completed, the

rotation of the mold body 2 is stopped, the

clutch connections between the gears 13 and 16 are engaged with eachother by actuating 5 the hand wheel 21, and the shaft 19 is put inmotion. 'This' revolves the pinions- "and 11,- the former acting to runthe rods 8 outwardly therethrough to move the plate into the positionshown in dotted lines in 10 Fig. 1. The plate 7 is moved along the facesof the rollers 2 which are of sufficient length to permit such movement,so that the weight of the plate is sustained by the rollers, to

prevent undue strain on the rods 8. At the same time the pinions 11operate upon the rods'12 to mgve them against the inner face of the castA-and thereby push said out of the mold cavity.

he rodsv 8 are so spaced that there will be just room for the casting tobe pushed laterally between two of these rods, in the manner shown indotted lines in Fig. 2,

after it has been pushed out of the mold.

"For this urp'ose I may employ another pusher suc as that indicated at23, which may be actuated by the rack and pinion mechanism 23*, or inany other suitable manner. In order to catch and support the casting asit is pushed laterally in this '30 manner, I provide a verticallymovable support 24, and a laterally movable support 25, the former-beingmovable into position below the casting as it is pushed out of the moldcavity by theushers 12, and the latter being movable into position atone side of the mold to catch the ring as it.

is pushed in a lateral direction by the pusher 23. Any suitable meansmay be employed for operating these supports, such as the gears 26,: 27and 28 and the racks 29 and 30 (see Fig. 2).

When the casting A has been moved to the position on the support 25shown in dotted lines in Fig.2, it may be readily caught by the hook ofa suitable crane and carried to any desired point for, further suitableway.

' In order to preventundue heating of the mold parts, I provide the mold6 with I an internal cavit 31. The shaft 3 is also 'made hollow and isprovided with a centrally extending water inlet pipe 32 which, at itsrear end, extends through a suitable as stufling box 33 into a chamber34 having an inlet connection 35. 'The rear. end of the shaft 3 extendsinto and-rotates withinby the branch connectionsf38 =1 into ports 47through the periphery of the mold desired size,- from that suitable forcasting ,means provided for discharging the castperations', or maybe=handled in any other,

' largely increas of the machine.

of different form for the purpose'of varying as it will be obvious thatvarious the space in the hollow shaft 3 surrounding the pipe 32 and isfinally carried oil at the outlet connection 39 from the member 36. Imay, however, also provide for the cooling of the face plate 7.. -,.Eor'this purpose I have shown it as provided with the internal chamber orcavity 40. This cavity may be supplied by a pipe 41 which telescopicallyseats in the'mold body 2 and extends rearwardly into an inlet chamber42. This inlet chamber may be supplied by a cornice-- tion 43 leadingfrom the cavity of the mold ring 6. The cavity 40 has an outlet pipe 44similar to the inlet pipe 41 and which extends Within an outlet chamber45 having so a connection with the outlet pipe 38 be? fore referred to.The pipes 41 and 44 ex tend through stufiing boxes 46 to preventleakage.

When the mold is being rotated, there may be interference with thewatercirculation through the, parts just described.

The mold parts are, however, at rest while Y a formed casting is beingremoved and while the plate 7 is being moved back into position for thenext casting. During these intervalsof rest there will .be nointerference with the circulation and themold parts may therefore bekept in properly cooled condition. I e

If desired, I may form a plurality of ring 6 through which air W111 beforced during the rotation of the mold, as shown in Fig. 3, which willprovide additional cooling means therefor. 1

My invention provides a casting machine which may be used for a Va,-riety of purposes, and ma be made of any relativel small rings up tolarge machines for casting ingots from which rails and other large metalobjects may be manufactured, as'described in my said patent. The ingsenable this work to be done conveniently and with but little delay,thereby the capacity and output he water system describedeffectively keethe mold parts from becoming oye'rheate Themold ring 6 and face plate 7may benremoved and replaced at any time, either when unfit for furtheruse, or to be replaced by parts the shape orof the mold cavity.

I do not limit -myself to the details of construction and farrangementof parts which I have herein shown and descnbed,

can be made without. departing from the spirit and scope of my inventionas defined in the appended claims. Thus, the arrangement of the gearingfor operating the face plate and the, pushers' may be "widely 13cchanged, the details of the water circulating system may be varied, andvarious other changes may be made.

I claim:

1. A centrifugal casting machine, comprising a rotary mold body and aface plate secured to said body and forming a part of the mold walls ofthe machine, and means whereby said face plate may be moved toward andaway from said body sufficiently to permit the formed casting to beejected through the opening formed by the separa tion of said partswithout disconnecting it therefrom, substantially as described.

2. A centrifugal casting machine, comprising a rotary mold body, a faceplate carried by said mold body and forming a part of the mold cavity, aplurality of supporting members for the face plate, and means forsimultaneously actuating said members to move said late toward or awayfrom the mold body, su stantially as described.

- 3. A centrifugal casting machine, comprising a rotatable mold body, aface plate carried by said body and forming apart of the mold cavity, aplurality of supporting members connected to said plate and arranged torotate within the mold body, and gearing for simultaneously rotatingsaid members to move the face plate relativel to the mold body,substantially as described.

4. A centrifu' a1 casting machine, comprising a rotary mo d body havin amold cavity therein, a plurality of spaced apart pusher devices carriedby the mold body and pro jecting into said cavity, and means forsimultaneously actuating said devices to eject the formed casting;substantially as described.

5. A centrifugal casting machine, comprising a rotary mold body, aplurality of pusher members carried by the mold body and projectin intosaid cavity in spaced relation to eac other, and means for actuatingsaid pusher members, substantially as described.

6. A centrifugal casting machine, comprising a rotary mold body, a faceplate movable toward and away from said body, and havin supportingmembers carrled thereby, a p urality of pusher, members also carried by'said mold body, and gearing for simultaneously actuating the supportingand pushing members, substantially as described.

7. A centrifugal casting machine, comprising a rotary mold body havlng amold cavity therein, a face plate movable toward and away from saidbody, a plurality of supporting members for said plate extending intosaid body, a plurality of pusher members also carried by said body andarranged to .be projected into the mold cavity, gearing for actuatingthe pusher members, and a connection between the actuating gearing forthe pusher members and the .ed to be moved a limited distance toward andaway fronr said body, of a support adapted to be moved into position toreceive the casting after the face plate has been moved away from themold bod and the casting ejected from the mold, su stantially asdescribed.

10. In a centrifugal casting machine, the

combination with a rotary mold body, a face plate carried by said bodyand movable a limited distance away from the same to release'thecasting, pushing means for ejecting the casting from the mold cavity,and other pushing means arranged to move the ejected casting laterallybetween the mold body and the separated face plate, substantially asdescribed.

11. In a centrifugal castin machine, the combination with a rotary mo dbody, a face plate carried by said body and movable a limited distanceaway from the same to release the casting, pushing means for ejectin thecasting from the mold cavity, and other pushing means arranged to movethe ejected casting laterally between the mold body and the separatedface plate, together with vertically and laterally movable supportsarranged to receive the casting as it is ejected from the mold and movedlaterally with respect to the mold body, substantially as described.

12. A centrifugal casting machine, comprising a rotary mold body and aface plate secured to said body and forming a part of the mold wallsof'the machine, and means whereby said face plate may be moved towardand away from said body sufiiciently to permit the formed casting to beejected through the opening formedby the separation of said parts,without disconnecting it therefrom, together with means for clrcuf 14:.A centrifugal casting machine, com-- prising a rotary mold body, ashaftvto which said body is secured, a face plate movable toward andawayfrom the mold body, means for eflecting a water circulation throughthe mold parts of the mold body, and means for effecting a watercirculation through said face plate in the different positions thereof,substantiall as described.

15. Centrifugal casting apparatus, com

prising a rotary mold body mounted to r0- tate about a horizontal axis,and a face plate secured to said body and forming a part of the 'wall ofthe mold cavity, means permitting said face plate tobe moved away fromsaid body a suflicient distance tope'rmlt a formed casting to be ejectedthrough theopen formed by such separation, ejector means or engaging thecasting and e ecting it, and means for simultaneously actuating thefaceplate and the ejector means; substantially as described.

16. A centrifugal casting machine," com-v prising a rotary mold body, ashaft to which. said body is secured, a face plate movable toward andaway from the mold body, means for eflecting a water circulation throughthe mold parts of the mold body, and means for eifectmg a watercirculation through said face latein the different positions thereof,

toget er with means for supporting said plate independently of itsactuating means;

substantially as described.

17. A centrifugal casting machine, comprising a rotary mold body and aface plate secured to said body and forming apart of the mold wallsofthe machine, and means whereby said face plate may be moved toward andaway from said body sufliciently 18. A centrifugal casting machine,com-" prisin' a rotary mold body and a face plate secure to said bodyand forming part: of

.the mold walls of the machine, and means .whereby said face plate maybe moved to- ,ward and away fromsaid body sufficiently .to' permit theformed casting to be ejected through the opening formed by theseparation of said parts, without disconnecting it 'therefrom, togetherwith means for circulating a cooling fluid within said mold body,

and also within the face plate substantially asdescribed.'... Intestimony whereof, I have hereunto set in hand.

y THOMAS A. DICKS.

